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Abstract
My thesis explores the historical interactions between the Arapaho and Shoshone people on Wyoming's Wind River Reservation. Although popular opinion holds, by Native and non-Native peoples alike, that the two tribal nations have not and will never establish friendly relationships, I have discovered that in critical moments in each nation's past, bonds of friendship formed rather than perpetual antagonism. Looking at the arrival of the horse onto the Great Plains, the placement of first the Shoshone and later the Arapaho onto the Wind River Reservation and the assimilation policies of the late 19th century it is clear that periods of turmoil were the catalyst to cooperation. Twentieth century events including the formation of the Joint Business council, land cessions and ultimately the Indian Reorganization Act (IRA) heighten our understanding of the complex relationships at play.
This study of the Wind River Reservation is critical to the scholarly body of work created about the Arapaho and Shoshone. Previously scholars have passed over the subject invoking the image of simply hereditary enmity and moved on to other topics including politics, labor and language. Also, scholars have never before examined the relationships between the two tribes and are focused upon only one of the two groups on the multi-tribal reservation. Moving beyond the interactions between a Native group and their white counterparts, this study focuses directly upon the interactions between two tribal nations.
